Jon Bellion and Chris DeStefano work on a song at Château Marouatte

Jayson DeZuzio, Jessie Malakouti & Josh Kear collaborate on a song as the donated Gibson guitar takes a break on the couch

Dan Nigro, HyGrade and Melanie Fiona jamming out a hit song, fresh out of the oven

Jesse Shatkin and MoZella recording the song they co-wrote

Nylo plays a Taylor guitar outside Château Marouatte

(l-r) Gary Go and Jayson DeZuzio strut their stuff

Songwriter Audra Mae walks down the entryway of Château Marouatte

Dougy Mandagi of The Temper Trap with a donated Taylor guitar

Benny Cassette, hard at work

Songwriter-producer Hygrade demonstrates his love of the donated PreSonus gear

A pair of Audio-Technica headphones in repose

The group poses in front of the Benedictine Abbey of Brantôme, founded in 769 by Charlemagne

If music is inseparable from the setting where it was created, what kind of songs would you write if you were surrounded by medieval castle walls, gothic towers and centuries-old tapestries? 17 top songwriters and producers from both sides of the pond found out at an ASCAP Songwriters Retreat, held September 25th to October 4th at the 14th-century Château Marouatte in the Dordogne region of France.

Years ago, the château's owner Miles Copeland invited Jeff Beck, Jon Bon Jovi, Belinda Carlisle and Desmond Child to the chateau for high-level songwriting sessions. After a decade of dormancy, ASCAP convinced him to re-start the tradition in 2011, and it’s been going strong ever since.

ASCAP designed the retreat to put talented writers in an environment conducive to writing hits and getting cuts. Each day, the writers divided into different groups to write and record. Gibson, Taylor, PreSonus and Audio-Technica donated the gear and instruments used throughout the retreat. The Cain Foundation generously underwrote the retreat for the third straight year.

The participants traveled back to their home countries with great memories, new collaborators and hard drives full of fantastic songs, ready to pitch to record labels and music supervisors.